Municipal borough
Municipal borough | |
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A municipal borough was a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1836 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in Scotland from 1833 to 1975 with the reform of royal burghs and creation of police burghs.
England and Wales
Municipal Corporations Act 1835
The
A number of further acts of parliament[
The boroughs unreformed by the Act were not immediately abolished. Several of them subsequently sought new charters as municipal boroughs; those that did not were finally abolished in 1887 by the Municipal Corporations Act 1886. Only the City of London Corporation survived as a local authority in an unreformed state; the City undertook a major reform of its democratic structure in 2005.
In 1873 the Association of Municipal Corporations was formed to represent the interests of the boroughs collectively; its membership included both county and non-county boroughs. The AMC was later to be a strong advocate for expanding county boroughs and unitary local government, and it was at the annual conference of the AMC in 1965 that Richard Crossman called for a reform of all local government. This speech eventually led to the Redcliffe-Maud Report recommending large unitary councils for all England.[6]
Corporation and council
Each municipal borough possessed a corporation uniformly designated as the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the town. The only exception was where the borough enjoyed city status; in this case "burgesses" became "citizens". In a handful of cities the chief magistrate was granted the further dignity of lord mayor.
The corporation was a
Town councils
The town council of each municipal borough consisted of a mayor, aldermen, and councillors. The councillors were directly elected by the burgesses for a three-year term, with one-third of their membership retiring each year. Boroughs with a population of more than 6,000 were divided into
Municipal elections were originally held on 1 November, with the mayoral election and filling of aldermanic vacancies on 9 November. Elections were cancelled during the
Functions
The municipal boroughs created under the 1835 Act had powers relating to
Municipal boroughs were not automatically given powers to provide or maintain infrastructure under the 1835 Act. Many boroughs were covered by separate bodies of improvement commissioners responsible for matters such as paving, lighting and cleaning streets, supplying water and providing sewers. These improvement commissioners continued to exist alongside the borough councils unless the commissioners chose to transfer their powers to the council.[12]
From 1848 onwards
County and non-county boroughs
In 1889, county councils were created across England and Wales under the Local Government Act 1888. Boroughs were divided into two sorts, with some becoming county boroughs which were entirely self-governing and independent from county council administration.
The non-county boroughs had more limited powers of self-government, and shared power with county councils. In 1894, towns which had not been incorporated as boroughs became urban districts with similar powers to municipal boroughs.
The title of "borough" was considered to be more dignified than "urban district", and so many larger urban districts petitioned to be granted the status of a municipal borough, and many were granted this right. Borough status did not substantially increase local government powers, although municipal boroughs above a certain size had the right to run primary education.
Abolition
Under the
The remaining municipal boroughs, of which there were over 200, were abolished on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972. In England, they were replaced by metropolitan or non-metropolitan districts and in Wales by districts.
In most cases, the civic privileges and
Ireland
The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 followed the example of the legislation in England and Wales. Unlike the 1835 Act, the Irish Act abolished nearly all of the country's boroughs, reforming just 10. Inhabitants of the larger of the abolished boroughs or of any town with a population of 3,000 could petition the crown for incorporation under the Act. In the event, only one additional borough was created when Wexford received a charter of incorporation in 1846.[17] The corporation and town council were identical in their constitution to the English boroughs, and each borough was divided into wards with three, six or nine councillors per ward and one alderman for every three councillors.[18]
The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 designated the six largest municipalities (Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Derry and Waterford) as county boroughs. The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919 introduced a system of proportional representation into municipal elections. Wards were replaced by electoral areas, and the entire council was to be elected triennially. Separate elections of aldermen and councillors were ended, with all members of the council elected by popular vote. One-quarter of the elected members were entitled to the title of "alderman", which was used to designate the first candidates elected in each area. The remaining successful candidates being "councillors".[19]
Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, Ireland was partitioned in 1921, between Northern Ireland, which would remain in the United Kingdom, and the remainder, which left the United Kingdom in 1922 as the Irish Free State.
Northern Ireland
On establishment, Northern Ireland contained the county boroughs of Belfast and Londonderry, with no municipal boroughs. The
Accordingly, by 1972 the number of boroughs had increased to 12 in number.The system of local government was reorganised in 1973, with 26
Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland
Nine boroughs (four county boroughs and five municipal boroughs) were within the territory of the Irish Free State in 1922. Two new boroughs were created by statute. In 1930, the borough of Dún Laoghaire was created by the amalgamation of the four urban districts of Blackrock, Dalkey, Kingstown, and Killiney and Ballybrack in County Dublin.[23] This borough was later abolished in 1994.[24] In 1937 the town of Galway was reconstituted as a municipal borough.[25] It became a county borough in 1986.[26][27]
The Local Government Act 2001 abolished municipal boroughs. County boroughs were replaced by statutory "cities", while the title of "borough" was retained for the other towns holding the status.[28]
See also
- List of rural and urban districts in England
- List of rural and urban districts in Wales
- Urban district (England and Wales)
- Urban and rural districts (Ireland)
- Rural district
- County borough
- Parliamentary borough
References
- JSTOR 2980708.
- ^ Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (C.76), S. 141
- S2CID 154140874.
- ^ 1842 C.111
- ^ Local Government Act 1933 (C. 51), S.129
- ^ Wood, Bruce (1976). The Process of Local Government Reform 1966–74. George Allen & Unwin. p. 19.
- ^ JSTOR 2139337.
- JSTOR 562019.
- ^ "The Municipal Elections". The Times. 13 May 1949. p. 3.
- ^ The Times, 5 May 1972
- ^ Guppy, Robert (1835). A familiar abridgement of the Municipal Corporation Act. London: Henry Butterworth. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ Guppy, Robert (1835). A familiar abridgement of the Municipal Corporation Act. London: Henry Butterworth. pp. 47–48. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ Lawes, Edward (1851). The Act for Promoting the Public Health, with notes and an appendix (3rd ed.). London: Shaw and Sons. pp. 254–271. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ Cunningham Glen, William (1873). The Public Health Act 1872 etc. London: Butterworths. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ Eighth Annual Report of the Local Government Board. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1879. p. 408. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ Nineteenth Annual Report of the Local Government Board. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1890. p. xxxvi. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ "History of Borough Council". Wexford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
- ^ Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, C. 108
- ^ Local Government (Ireland) Act 1919, C. 19
- ^ "Review of Legislation 1922". Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law. Third Series. 6 (3). 1924.
- ^ Municipal Corporations Act (Northern Ireland) 1926
- ^ Local Government (Northern Ireland) Act 1972 (N.I. 1972 c.9)
- ^ Local Government (Dublin) Act 1930, s. 3 (No. 27 of 1930, s. 3). Enacted on 17 July 1930. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 2008-07-14.
- ^ Local Government (Dublin) Act 1993, s. 9 (No. 31 of 1993, s. 9). Enacted on 21 December 1993. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 2016-08-05.
- ^ Local Government (Galway) Act 1937, s. 4: Formation of the Borough of Galway (No. 3P of 1937, s. 4). Enacted on 10 June 1937. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 24 June 2021.
- ^ Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985, s. 5: Establishment of Borough of Galway as County Borough (No. 7 of 1985, s. 5). Enacted on 3 April 1985. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 24 June 2021.
- ^ Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985 (County Borough of Galway) (Appointed Day) Order 1985 (S.I. No. 425 of 1985). Signed on 18 December 1985. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 24 June 2021.
- ^ Local Government Act 2001, s. 10: Local government areas (No. 37 of 2001, s. 10). Enacted on 21 July 2001. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 4 April 2023.